Acid Orb spell

[xXCrystal_Rose]

I've been tracking this bug and testing it on a lot of stuff, and it doesn't seem like the target matters. Driders, trolls, rubbery white bulbs, doors, kobolds, hook horrors, PC characters, you name it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The touch attack could hit and saving throw succeed but it does no acid damage. The touch attack could hit and saving throw fail and it stuns, but does no acid damage. The touch attack could hit and the saving throw fail, but it neither stuns nor does the damage.  I've done it to pretty much everything that can be targeted and have seen it both work and not work on them all. It seems like when it isn't working it goes through a phase of lots of it in a row- maybe something making it not work for that whole reset. Likewise when it does work it seems to work a few times in a row successfully.

[xXCrystal_Rose]

Examples. I screwed up the cropping and didn't show that the initiative roll went right after on the elemental one, but it didn't do the acid damage there either. On previous instances it has worked just fine against that same exact elemental though.

[xXCrystal_Rose]

Also should mention I had this problem in efu:m with the fire orb spell, but only was a high enough level to cast it for two hours about so never got to really test it enough and ended up forgetting to report it.

[Pentaxius]

I haven't noticed any unusual behavior (yet) on this spell as a Wizard, for a total of maybe 10 castings.

Also, the DC on the screenshot is (incorrectly?) 17, while it should be 12+4=16.

Last, the range-touch attack spells do not deal double damage on a critical hit as currently coded, as they do in both nwn default and cannon. (this second point also applies to scorching ray, which doesn't deal double damage on a critical hit either, contrary to popular belief). More problematic, these spells always miss on a natural 1.

In the case it isn't, and we want to make things proper, this should fix it :

On the ImpactScript of these spells, there is a spot where the ranged-touch attack script is called.

int nTouch = TouchAttackRanged(oTarget) // call the range-touch attack. Note - effects on a critical hit need to be specified  within the On Impactscript.
      if(nTouch == 2) / because Touchattackranged returns a 0 on a miss, 1 on a hit, and 2 on a critical hit. Note that a natural ''1'' always returns a miss, but the builder must specify the effect of a "20".
      {
         nDamage *= 2; / On a critical hit, deal double damage.
      }
      }

Did my research, and my best to be helpful here :)

Script sources : (source 1) (source 2)
Cannon (source 4)
NWN (source 3)
[hide= For ease of reading]
Touch Attacks

Touching an opponent with a touch spell is considered to be an armed attack and therefore does not provoke attacks of opportunity. However, the act of casting a spell does provoke an attack of opportunity. Touch attacks come in two types: melee touch attacks and ranged touch attacks. You can score critical hits with either type of attack. Your opponent’s AC against a touch attack does not include any armor bonus, shield bonus, or natural armor bonus. His size modifier, Dexterity modifier, and deflection bonus (if any) all apply normally.
[/hide]

[xXCrystal_Rose]

My screenshot log is apparently full so it didn't save the second one. Got the snippet from the chat log instead to show comparison that is mentioned. You'll just have to trust that I'm not faking it >.>

[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Tue Dec 31 08:36:46] Ceres Aers attempts Ranged Touch Attack on Rubbery White Bulbs : *hit* : (1 + 0 = 1)
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Tue Dec 31 08:36:46] Ceres Aers damages Rubbery White Bulbs: 33 (33 Acid)
[CHAT WINDOW TEXT] [Tue Dec 31 08:36:54] LordofCinder has joined as a player..

Both attacks against the same thing, both of them rolling a 1, both of them saying it was a hit, but only one did damage and the other did not. I don't know why it is at a +0 AB though. Maybe because it is a placeable object. The rubbery white bulbs in both examples are the one which is along the shore of the dark lake.

[Paha]

For all that it's worth, this seems to be working pretty much as intended, after testing and checking.

If there are occasions where damage does not come through, try to pick the specific situation and report it, the target and any other events that seem important.

[John Doe]

FYI, you automatically receive a +1 roll when the target is an object (and not a creature). Auto hit.

[xXCrystal_Rose]

Had another instance of it not applying any acid damage. I was along the trade ways and fighting an Elder Hook Horror. The Hook Horror was at injured health. The touch attack hit, the hook horror passed the fortitude save to avoid stunning, though no damage was dealt.

[Paha]

The save itself is to avoid acid damage.

[xXCrystal_Rose]

Well then I guess the problem is that others have been still taking acid damage despite making the saving throw. The stuff in that testing room all succeeded the save except for one instance and they took acid damage. I thought that the spell description said that the saving throw was only vs the stunning but I'm not a sorc/wizard so can't check it for myself.

[Pentaxius]

the save is against the secondary effect, not the acid damage per say which is delivered if the spell hits at full.

For sorcerer/wizards, the spell works correctly - except - for the double damage on critical hit on the range touch attack. This affect all ranged-touch attack spells (Orbs, scorching Ray) But not NWN default touch attacks (Lay of hands on undead).

When used from an item, it seems to have different types of issues (perhaps on the addition of the spell to the item property options)

Thanks for having a look, much appreciated.

[xXCrystal_Rose]

There was another instance of it hitting and not doing acid damage against a Sahuagin Warrior. Pent has been using it as a casted spell and if he isn't seeing these problems then it is possibly due to it being a custom spell granted to an item. Were a few other times this happened today but wasn't able to take note of it due to intense combat.

[Paha]

Plenty of reports. We'll take a look when possible for more detailed testing, but for now, it's what it is.

[Paha]

Apparently there still are some irregular diffferences on how these react, and I cannot yet discover why it is random and not constant. I will look at it but I cannot say when it is fixed.

[Paha]

We identified the problem, finally, and it is a quirky one.

I'll be implementing some changes and it might work after next reset, or the one after that, depending when I get my changes in. This goes for all orb spells.